5. The missing-man formation is used to pay homage to a person (or persons) who has (have) passed away. What is the origin of this formation?

6. On different occasions, a pilot keys his microphone 3, 5, and 7 times to activate pilot-controlled airport lighting. The runway-edge lights turn on and remain illuminated for _____, _____, and _____ minutes, respectively.

7. From reader John Schmidt: The Rutan Voyager was flown nonstop around the world without refueling by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager in December, 1986. Prior to that historic flight, what was the world distance record for nonstop, unrefueled flight in a piston-powered airplane and in what type of aircraft was that flight made?

8. What World War II pilot with a now-famous name took off from the aircraft carrier Lexington in his Grumman Wildcat and shot down five Japanese bombers in less than five minutes? Answers on page 48

Answers

1. During the Korean War, T–6 Texans used as forward air control aircraft were called Mosquitoes because they were “small, annoying aircraft” that let the enemy know that they were about to be “stung” by fighters, bombers, or artillery shells.

2. (b) An airplane is an oversized weather vane that tends to point into the wind. In an updraft, the relative wind comes from below. Upon entering the updraft, therefore, the airplane tends to point into the vertically rising air, which means that it will tend to pitch down.

4. The International Congress of Agricultural Organizations defines a broken layer as a nonproductive hen. (Sorry about that.)

5. According to customs and traditions of the Royal Air Force, this “fly past” was first used by pilots returning from operational missions during World War I to signal ground personnel that a loss or losses had been sustained.

6. 15, 15, and 15. Varying the number of microphone clicks has no effect on how long the lights remain on. It only adjusts lighting intensity when such a feature is available.

7. In September 1946, a Lockheed P2V-1 Neptune, the Truculent Turtle, flew nonstop and unrefueled from Perth, Australia, to Columbus, Ohio, a distance of 11,237 miles, in 55 hours and 18 minutes.

8. Lt. Edward “Butch” O’Hare, after whom Chicago’s famous airport is named. (The identifier, ORD, stems from the airport’s original name, Orchard Field.)

A tale of flying adventure, severe injuries, international political maneuvering, and an emergency at sea comes to life in "Floatplane Odyssey," a book that commemorates the twenty-fifth anniversary of Tom Casey’s 1990 around-the-world flight in a Cessna 206 on floats.